Shoulder pads are used in a variety of sports for protection from impact such as football, motocross, lacrosse and hockey. Football shoulder pads typically include front, back and shoulder portions in an integrated manner. A rigid arch portion made of plastic that extends from the front portion to the back portion is used to provide stability to the shoulder portions. U.S. Pat. No. 7,168,104 discloses an arch portion that is rigidly attached to the shoulder pads on the front, back and shoulder portions using numerous rivets at numerous locations throughout the arch. Due to the integrated manner of the shoulder portions to the back and front portions of the shoulder pads and to the rigid arch on the shoulder portion, a user has a restricted range of motion.
Shoulder pad arches are conventionally plastic materials formed by compression molding. After compression molding, the materials are heated to bend the component into an arch. Due to the compression molding and bending, over time the arch tends to straighten out. Conventionally, arches are rigidly secured to the shoulder pads by numerous rivets at numerous locations to prevent this tendency for compression molded arches to straighten out.
Conventional shoulder pads also include buckles for securing shoulder pads on a user. However, conventional buckles are bulky and provide easy grab points for, e.g., football opponents, to grab onto.